Del Re calls for humanitarian corridors from Libyan centres

Nearly 5,000 migrants currently in detention centres

ROME - Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuela Del Re said humanitarian corridors are needed "in a perspective of collaboration and European solidarity" for the serious plight of the approximately 5,000 migrants currently being held in Libyan detention centres.

On Thursday, Del Re led the third annual meeting of the Joint Committee for Development Cooperation.

The committee approved a package of measures totaling about 40 million euros, 15 million of which is earmarked for aid credits to benefit Ethiopia and Libya. Grants were also approved for Cuba and Ethiopia; as well as interventions in Kenya, Mali, Senegal, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Colombia; and financing for the Union for the Mediterranean.

During the meeting, UNHCR Deputy Representative for Southern Europe Roland Schilling spoke about the plight of refugees in Libya and the Sahel.